Kidical Mass Sellwood

In one of the wettest days in memory, the Kidical Mass ride came to Sellwood. The ride was a 3-mile loop through our hood with stops at Blue Kangaroo and Westmoreland Park. The stop at Westmoreland was very short because there was a vote to move on and forgo chasing the ducks and geese.
The ride as particularly well attended due to a recent suggestion by Oregon State Representative Mitch Greenlick that there should be a discussion surrounding children under 7 riding on the backs of bikes or in trailers. His claim was that it was unsafe to do so due to a recent study by the Oregon Health Sciences University that documented that 30% of regular cyclists experience traumatic events during their travels throughout the year.
The link is tenuous because commute habits are very different when you're pulling your child. My behavior is very different and I am much more cautious. I have said it a couple of times to colleagues that my daughter on the trail-a-bike makes a bad traffic calming device or bumper.
It was fun to catch up with some old friends and new and we had a great time.

Abby's Social Calendar

Abby is going to Amazin' Glazin, a local pottery shop to celebrate Katie's birthday. Katie is a few months older than Abby and lives down Lexington Street. It should be a good time for her. I am hanging with Amelia and will join them later. Sheila and Dan are supposed to come in for dinner to celebrate her birthday and I fly to Baltimore on the red eye, so it looks to be a busy day. Time to do some editing on the Signal Timing Manual.

Peacock Lane: A Holiday Tradition

 
 

One of our favorite traditions is visiting Peacock Lane in inner Southeast Portland. The two block walk is filled with houses all lit up for the holidays. The sad part is that cars run all the way through and it becomes quite congested on the sidewalks.

We enjoyed a rainy night with Herny and MK.

Super Turkey 07

Susan just got back from New Seasons having picked up the 21.2 lb Diestel Farms Turkey. The thing is huge. Abby got a kick out of poking and prodding it while Susan helped thaw it a bit. It wasn't supposed to be frozen, but I guess it sat in the fridge in the back a little too long there at the store.

Abby was very curious about the bird and was asking about the bones and where the wishbone was and why its neck was separate. When we went to bed tonight she asked why I did not want to touch the turkey and I told her that I didn't like animals "that" much and she said, "but Dad you like Beavers". I told her that was a little different and that we could talk about it in the morning.

Monster March, Carving Party, and Red Sox Win!

We had a great Pumpkin Carving Party complete with our friends. It was interesting how all the friends now have kids and thinking back four or five years it is quite different now than it was.

http://picasaweb.google.com/peter.koonce/071028MonsterMarch

Providence Bridge Pedal

What a great annual tradition! The Providence Bridge Pedal is one of my favorite Portland events. We rode with Dad and Chris and had an awesome time.

We got lucky that we started with the first groups because some of the traffic control was terrible and resulted in delays of more than an hour for some people. I emailed to volunteer, but haven't heard anything yet.

One of my favorite memories will be Abby on top of the Fremont Bridge saying that she wanted to be finished with the ride. We coaxed her to continue by offering rubber snakes and ice cream. When we asked what flavor she wanted she said in a very emphatic way.... Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. I don't think I knew that she had ever had that before, so that was a bit of a surprise.

I was actually on the news because James was filming at the start line where the Bite is in progress and he was working with a cook to get people to come down to the Waterfront Park that afternoon for lunch or dinner. It is also the end of the ride.We made 15 miles on the day which was pretty good for both kids. A funny highlight was meeting Dave from Dave's Killer Bread http://www.daveskillerbread.com/flashy/... we love that bread. Here are some great pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/peter.koonce/070812BridgePedal?authkey=tfbRK0rgpOw

Bike to Rose Parade

We started out this rainy day thinking about just heading off for a short ride, but when we realized the rain wasn't so bad, we just kept going. We ended up making it all the way to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and watching the Rose Festival Parade for about 45 minutes. The rain came down throughout the visit and Peter was the one to suggest we head back.

http://picasaweb.google.com/peter.koonce/070609BikeToRoseParade